


Some People Call Me the Space Cowboy

by Fromageinterrupted



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drunken Shenanigans, F/M, Space Cowboys - Freeform, flirtyrobot, pidgance, plance mini bang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 21:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fromageinterrupted/pseuds/Fromageinterrupted
Summary: Drunk and thinking "not so clearly", Shiro and Iverson hatch a plan to retrieve some of Iverson's missing officers, taking care of some of Shiro's "problems" in the process.Lance is shot into the farthest reaches of space only to find there is an unexpected passenger on board.Written for the Plance Mini Bang 2019





	1. What goes down, must come up.

**Author's Note:**

> I had never watched Cowboy Bebop when I started writing this. I based the title on a line in a Steve Miller Band song. And then I listened to the song Space Cowboy by them and it's a little apropos. So there's that. :-D
> 
> I am so thankful to SueMaryRakocy for drawing amazing art for this fic. You can find her on tumblr at suemaryrakocy.  
> The art she's drawn makes me so happy. 
> 
> And shout out to @Rueita for being an awesome and incredible Beta. The team I had to work with rocks!
> 
> And to Reem and everyone else who put together this bang. Love you all!

*hic*

The bar shook with the movement of one of the men at the end of it.

*hic*

Their conversation was loud, far louder than needed in the nearly empty bar tonight.

*hic*

The bar shook again. The bartender glanced over at the men while steadying some shaking shot glasses. He may have to cut them off he thought to himself. It’d be a shame too, because he was ninety percent positive that the younger guy was Takashi Shirogane of Galaxy Garrison fame. He shook his head, he’d rather water down their drinks than confront him and his one-eyed companion.

“Hey! Bartender!” The bartender jerked at the cry of the one-eyed man.

He sighed, it appeared that a confrontation was going to be needed after all. “Come now fellas, don’t you think you’ve had enough?” A last minute burst of courage surged through him.

“That’sh..not..” *hic* The man leaned forward, his buddy patting his back.

“It’s okay Mitch. It’ll be okay.” 

“Yeah… But..” The man’s head fell forward onto the bar and he began snoring.

The bartender was now 100% sure the other man was Takashi Shirogane, and the guy passed out on the bar was Commander Iverson, who was more infamous than famous, even to this day.

“You need some coffee for your friend there?” He motioned to Iverson snoring away on the bar.

“Nah, he never could hold his liquor. But his rebound time is amazing. Give him a few minutes, he’ll come back around.” Shiro patted his friend’s back and took a swig of the water the bartender had offered him. 

His countenance darkened as he sat the glass back down.

“You ever have any regrets?” He was looking at the mirror behind the bar back, but the bartender answered the question anyway. 

“One or two maybe. How about you?”

The man slowly nodded, “Several.” He eventually turned his gaze onto the bartender, “Ever wish you could fix them? Like, the ones that still had a chance of turning out differently?”

The bartender shrugged. Several memories flooded his mind, the one that got away, the fight he had with his brother the last time he saw him, the tattoo on his lower back that he’d rather not talk about.

“I suppose so. But we’re all here because we won’t, right?”

Shiro leaned back, his eyes losing their focus. He opened his mouth to speak but Iverson shot up from the bar, stopping him.

“Regrets!” He wobbled on his feet mid yell. “Hank and LuLu!” He reached out and grabbed Shiro by the jacket. 

“You remember Hank and Lulu?” Iverson began crying dramatically as he threw his upper body across the bar again. “They were the best. Oh! Hank and Lu I let you doooowwwnn!”

This was not what the bartender was expecting from Commander Iverson. He felt unsettled. He didn’t like when the world around him was different than he expected it to be.

Shiro was attempting to molify Iverson who was still in the throws of a drunken lament.

“I think so. They…”

“They were the most..besht.. I sent them after you.” Iverson still held onto Shiro tightly. “I shent them after you and lost them.” More dramatic crying followed.

Shiro’s gaze darkened again. He pushed iverson back onto his stool and order two more shots. 

Crying Commander Iverson the bartender could handle; angry Shiro he could not. “You sure? How about some coffee?”

“No. Give me two shots of..” Shiro pointed to a black and gold bottle on the middle shelf. “That.”

A Galra spirit. The stuff was worse than any rye whiskey the bartender had ever served. He supposed Shiro must have had his share of it when up in space. He poured the shots, setting them down in front of Shiro. 

“Go easy, ok?”

Shiro downed the two shots in quick succession, his gaze locked onto the bartender the whole time. 

“I think I can handle it.” 

Regardless of his bravado, the bartender was able to pinpoint the exact moment the alien alcohol hit Shiro’s system. There was no denying that Takashi Shirogane had gone from slightly buzzed to probably-not-remembering-this-night in 10 seconds flat.

“We got a blip from them, ya know?” Iverson’s eyes lit up. “I blip the other day…. Shhiro?”

Shiro had begun to laugh, a cynical laugh, tinged with something not even the bartender could identify.

“You. Commanders.. Have NOOOOO idea how BIG space ish!” Shiro gesticulated wildly in a drunken attempt to illustrate the vastness of space using his two not so vast arms, falling off the barstool in the process, but recovering rather quickly for someone as drunk as he had become.

Iverson took offense. “I do too. It’s real big. I’ve spent my life staring at it you fool!” He stood up to challenge Shiro.

“Okay buddy. Clam down… Pfff! Clam down…” Shiro wrapped his arm around Iverson’s shoulder. “I think I’m drunk.” 

“I know I am.”

“Excellent! You have made the right choices tonight.”

The new voice rose from below the men, followed by what the bartender would later describe as an “owl-otter-caterpillar-ferret man”. He was clapping several of his hands.

Shiro and Iverson groaned in unison. “SLAAVVvvv.”

Drunk Shiro made unwise decisions. Drunk Shiro braved asking Slav what he meant.

“What I mean!? Why your regrets of course. Hank and Lulu need to be found if this Universe is going to be okay!.” Slav pointed several fingers at Shiro. “And some of your regrets are needed to find them.” He was practically giddy with anticipation.

Slav grabbed both men by the collar dragging them with him out the door. But not before he grabbed what remained of the Galra spirit and chugged the whole thing down. 

“Have a good reality!”

The bartender sighed in relief, the tension in his shoulders releasing with his breath.. Now they were the night’s problem.

\---------------------------------------------------

Lance wrapped his hands around the controls of the spacecraft in an almost loving manner. It felt amazing having that much life and power in his control again. Less than 24 hours ago he had no idea how much he had actually missed this. This felt so natural. It didn’t matter at all that he hadn’t flown anything for two years, it was almost like this machine was designed with the Lions in mind, everything was that intuitive and easy to use. 

He sighed, his shoulders slumping with the reminder of everything he, they, had lost. It wasn’t even every day he thought about them anymore. The more time that passed, the more he slipped quietly into the role of whatever it was the others wanted. He was the dutiful son, managing the farm, watching it become more successful than ever. He was an ex-paladin of Voltron, rolled out once a year to remind everyone that he had done something worthwhile. He was the one left behind by Allura, left with a reminder that he was her’s first, a broken heart, and a burden bigger than he’s been able to carry. He’s hardly been able to be Lance anymore. Not that he knew what being Lance was like in the first place. He hadn’t expected to ever be at the helm of a spaceship ever again.

He had been laying in bed when several knocks on his kitchen door brought the unexpected opportunity. He didn’t know what he thought he was going to encounter when he went to answer the door, but a drunk Shiro, Iverson, and Slav had not even been on whatever subconscious list he had been running through as he descended the stairs.

The door squeaked when he opened it. “Shhh” he told the door, hoping it didn’t wake anyone.

“Lance!” 

“McClain!”

“I’m glad you are wearing striped pajamas. This is good.”

They were very drunk and very excited. 

Next thing Lance knew, he was on this new ship, stocked up to the gills with supplies, going on a three Earth-month long trip to find “Hank and Lulu.” At least Shiro and Iverson sobered up enough along the way to give him his mission. Lance had tried to resist, had even drug them all to the barn so they wouldn’t wake his family. But, as he listened, he thought about how little he was actually needed overall. He knew he was wanted, but his absence wouldn’t be a huge burden. 

During the guys’ drunken explanation, he found himself longing for the stars and the promise of excitement again. Something that long lay dormant within him. It was Kaltenecker that ended up pushing him over the edge.She walked up to him and nuzzled his hand. Lately, every time he saw her, he remembered the day he and Pidge got her. It had been one of the most carefree days of his life. And now Pidge wasn’t even talking to him anymore. 

Kaltenecker blinked her big, brown eyes at him. “You think I should go girl? You won’t miss me?”

She mooed, long and low. He remembered the carefree feeling of that day once again.

“Alright! I’m in.”


	2. The Grass is Greener

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Got to keep the universe in order somehow.

He had just wormhole jumped to the outer region of the universe, the whole ship shaking slightly with the immense distance it traveled in those few moments. Lance shudder from the feeling of the space between him and the people back home. From what he understood, the ship had been through a few tests, but wasn’t yet an officially sanctioned craft. His family would be notified of his mission, but nothing more. He would be able to contact them in three months. 

The jump residue cleared and the shaking stopped, but a noise still remained that concerned Lance.

It sounded like thumping and something similar to muffled screaming. He set the ship on auto, grabbed his bayard, and headed toward the sound. There were two tangible things left behind from Lance’s paladin days, his space suit and his bayard. He was exceedingly thankful for both at the moment.

Though the ship had a lot of storage space - and even a bedroom - it ended up being easy to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Mostly because whoever, and Lance could now tell by the sound that it was a whoever, was making a whole lot of angry noise.

Moving toward the tool crib that was shaking with the efforts of whoever was inside, he breathed in, a bit shocked at how little fear he was actually feeling in this moment. Nothing but excitement so far on this mission. Something different than the tedium his life had become.

Lance held his weapon up, his heart racing, and threw open the lid of the tool crib. 

“Hands UP!” He hollered with as much authority as he could muster. But no hands shot up. The only thing Lance found was a pile of prepackaged space food, some blankets, tools crammed to one side, and a pair of large, golden brown eyes looking up at him in anger.

“What the cheese?!!!”

Alarmed at what he found he began to clear off the food and other stuff so he could see who this captive was. Shock ran up his spine as their face and tiny body came into view. They were tied up, hands and feet, with tape over their mouth. His eyes widened. Not their mouth. Her mouth. The mouth of a very angry Pidge.

He hesitated a moment before removing the tape. Maybe he was more scared than he had thought originally. Maybe there was nothing more frightening in the universe than a Pidge who was obviously moved against her will. Maybe the tape should stay in place a little longer.

Pidge glared at him, willing him with her eyes to free her mouth. Her face reddened the longer he hesitated. It was going to be bad for him one way or another, he better obey quickly he guessed.

A very loud expletive burst forth from her the moment she could talk.

“WHAT AM I DOING HERE?!!! WHERE AM I?! “WHY ARE YOU HERE!? UNTIE ME NOWWWW!” She wiggled and attempted to sit up, causing food stuffs to spill out onto the ship floor.

“You promise not to hit me if I untie you?” Lance had a valid fear, knowing Pidge well enough to assume it was the first thing she would do once untied..

She stilled, a smirk settling on her face. “And if I don’t?”

He hadn’t thought of that option. He pulled his pocket knife out and cut the ties holding her captive. She shot right up and grabbed him by the front of his flight suit. Despite all her rage and anger, Lance couldn’t help but notice how bright her eyes were, how much more animated she was now than he’s seen her in the last two years, how the only thing she was wearing was an old t-shirt, sleep shorts, and her Garrison lab coat thrown over them. 

Her hand raised, probably to slap him, but dropped quickly, her head whipping around to take in the interior of the ship. 

“Why the quiznak are we on my ship?” 

“It’s not your ship. It’s the Garrison’s ship. Shiro and Iverson sent me to test it.” Pride welled in Lance’s chest a moment, thinking how awesome it was that they chose him.

“Iverson?! Owwww.” Pidge grabbed her head. “They knocked me out. I remember now.”

She steadied herself using Lance’s arms as she straightened up and hauled her legs over the side of the tool crib. Lance stood along with her, helping her stay upright. He knows she must have been in there for at least five hours. He wondered when they had snuck her onto the ship. Was it before or after they showed up at his house? He hoped after. Lance made a mental note to never allow those three to get drunk together ever again.

Pidge's words sunk in suddenly.

"Wait! They Knocked you out? " He surveyed Pidge "You're okay right? Did they hurt you? Let me check your head." Lance grabbed for pidges head, pulling it down to inspect it.

"Back off Lance. They didn't hit me or anything. One minute I was opening the door of my apartment, wondering why in the world Shiro would be at my place at 4 in the morning. Then he says, 'sorry' and holds up a pen-like thing to my neck. Now I'm here. On MY ship. Wherever here is." The anger that had left her face moments before came back with a vengeance. She moved away from him, looking around.

"You didn't tell me yet why you are on my ship."

Lance bristled, he really didn't want to think that he was on a mission in a stolen ship. "For one,  
I didn't know it was your ship." He held up his fingers to count. "For another, Shiro and Iverson both sent me on this mission in this ship. I don’t see anything stating this is your ship?"

Pidge glared at Lance then sauntered over to the control panel. All he could do was stare as her old air of smugness settled about her.

"How's this?" She hit a panel and a hologram of her old hacking mark began to laugh in the middle of the bridge. How did she always do that?

"So, you hacked the ship. Whatever. I'm still on a mission and it's still my ship right now. I was made captain by Shiro." Lance crossed his arms, tilting his nose up in the air with ‘humpf’.

The way Pidge moved back toward him gave him a fright. For how small she was, she always took up so much space with her presence. "I built this. With my own two hands. I was the researcher and the designer. I programmed it and it is MY SHIP!" She spun around and started pressing buttons all over the panels.

Lance watched as she manipulated virtual screens and readouts, mesmerized by her lightening fast movements and the amount of information she blew through while looking at whatever it was she was looking at. She spun around to face him again.

"Where are we Lance?" her voice softened with confusion.

"I'm not sure. Shiro said they would send the coordinates from the tiny blip Hank and Lulu’s tracker made, and that it was 'very far away'. Far enough that he sent his prosthetic arm across my farm to make his point." Lance thought back to that decidedly alcohol induced moment. To tell the truth, both Shiro and Iverson kept hollering about the vastness of space and the likelihood of failing this mission, but that it “had to be done for the good of reality”. All Lance could think was What in the name of Bob?

"Well, I don't have this quadrant in my system. And I had downloaded almost everything I could from Green. This ship is almost Green in its entirety. Green had, somehow, never been in this quadrant." She plopped down in the captain's chair, the action raking on Lance's sensibilities a bit.

"I told you, we're very far. And here for three months. They locked the wormhole until then."

Pidge laughed, long and loud. her voice full of confidence. "Well, they may have locked that portal, but no lock has ever stopped me. Shiro and Iverson can’t program to save their lives.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, you can use my ship, but first we go back through and drop me off. I'm not entirely thrilled about the idea of being stuck for three months in space with you." She gave him a blank look.

"Why not!?" Lance was angered at Pidge's open disgust over hanging with him. "We lived in space together for over two years! 3 months is nothing."

Pidge looked down, fiddled with a few more instruments, "It was fun, but there were a lot more people there and a lot less in the space between us then..." she trailed off.

Lance sighed, three years ago, whenever they were together for some Voltron appearance or another, Pidge would inevitably bring up what she thought of Lance's new lifestyle. She had even called him boring the last time they talked. Then she didn't talk to him at all after that. For two whole years. Though they had been in each other’s company for official events several times since then.

It hadn’t been that way at first. They all hung around each other, needing to be near the others that had gone through the same experiences. But, Lance realized, they all mourned quite differently, and some of them were far less able to move on than others.

He'd missed her. He missed her now. She was once one of his best friends. and now, nothing. "There's nothing you can do Pidge. For some reason Shiro felt you needed to be here so here you are. Now let me explain the mission."

"No way. There's no way this can be locked. I can hack anything." Pidge started to get frantic. Moving screen after screen around, making shocked noises, grunting, throwing a screen off to her left and opening another one. She was just about to pull her hair out when a growl akin to a prehistoric animal poured from her mouth before she plopped down on the ground in defeat.

Lance's head shot up. "You can't hack your own ship's computer?" It hurt to call it her ship, but he needed to tread lightly here.

"Lance, I'm wearing green socks." She gestured to her feet that were covered in baggy knit socks, the very green Green was.

"So, you like green. I think..." Her look of defeat confused him.

"I don't own green socks. Nor do I sleep in them."

They looked at each other and said in unison "SLAV"


	3. Grin and Bear It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do they have soap in space?

As soon as the realization that they were stuck together on this mission for the long haul, Lance immediately began to take the role of leadership. He filled Pidge in on their mission. How Hank and Lulu were still alive in some capacity, due to the tracker only working with each person’s algorithms. How they disappeared looking for Shiro and her brother and dad. How there were several small planets out where they were and that they could be on any one of them. The info Iverson had received from the Unilu trader.

Pidge’s eyes had softened at the mention of her brother and dad. “I didn’t realize they had tried to find them. I always assumed they wrote them off as dead and that was that.” She moved over to the navigation screens, using a rolling cart as a seat. Lance chuckled at the memory of their being yelled at for their unsafe behavior in the flight simulators back in school. Iverson would flip his lid if he saw Pidge now.

“Where are we headed first?” Pidge had the coordinates pulled up on screen.

Lance moved over to stand behind, leaning over her right shoulder to get a closer look.

“Can you bring up visual? It doesn’t look too far now.” Lance watched as Pidge switched to the ships camera, pulling up a small, tan and blue planet. “Is it a desert? A moon? What are the people like?”

Pidge gently shoved his face away. “I know as much as you do. I’m running spectrometers on the atmosphere right now.” 

They watched the screens together as the ship completed the analysis. He wouldn’t tell her, but he was thrilled to have someone along for the mission. And glad it ended up being Pidge. They may not be on good terms right now, but Lance knew that could change.

Pidge pointed at the screen. “Analysis done. Looks like we won’t need helmets to breathe, though the entire region has very low humidity. You were right, Lance.” She tilted her glasses so the ship’s lights shone off of them. “It is a desert.”

“Aha, Lance does it again.” He spun around and shot Pidge a proud look.

“The planet is tan, it was a pretty easy guess.” Pidge rolled her eyes at him before she continued. “The blue is water, mostly fresh, their vegetation is limited, but mainly taken from the water sources. No one lives on the ground, all humanoid life exists on the various large mesa like structures.” The computer pulled up a rendering of the mesas. Lance laughed.

“Looks like camels and turtles. Giant camels and turtles.” They really did. He leaned back over Pidge’s shoulder, needing to inspect them closer, but not really knowing why.

“There’s also a lot of seismic activity, though it seems to be mostly on the mesas? I wonder why they choose to live on the most unstable portions of the land?” Pidge scrunched her nose up in confusion.

Lance went back to his chair and sent the ship forward at full speed. “Don’t know. But we’re gonna find out.”

Using the original blip and the info from the Unilu trader, they were able to narrow the possible location down to just one region. And there was only one mesa in the region, so they landed on the edge of it. Lance had to hand it to Pidge, the ship maneuvered and landed like a dream. If he could have designed a small exploration craft himself, this would be it. Though maybe there’d be a pool. 

“Found some!” Pidge had run to the back of the ship right after they landed. Now she reappeared rubbing cream all over her arms and legs. “I cannot go outside without sunscreen. And the UV index here is fairly extreme. Here, want some?” She tossed the bottle to Lance.

“I’m good, but you missed an awful lot.” He strode over to where Pidge was. “Need help?” He held out his hands.

Pidge looked behind her, trying to get a good look at her legs he supposed. She turned her attention back to him, a look of defeat.

“I suppose so. Can you do my neck too?” She tilted her head forward.

Lance squatted down and began to work the lotion into her legs. He hadn’t realized how short her shorts were until he was rubbing the lotion above her knee. He froze for a second before looking Pidge up and down.

“Are you going to put your lab coat back on? You seem kind of exposed.”

“No. It’s like a hundred degrees out there. I do not want to..” She trailed off.

Lance straightened back up. “Something wrong?”

“I don’t even have any quiznacking shoes. What the heck was wrong with those guys?” She sat on the floor in a huff.

“They were impossibly drunk, Pidge.” Lance was sure he’d told her as much already.

She rolled her eyes. “It was rhetorical. Anyway, put the lotion on my neck and let's go find me some shoes.” She leaned over again.

Lance made quick work of getting her sufficiently covered in sunscreen. He definitely didn’t linger anywhere on her soft skin while realizing some latent longing coming to life in his heart. He definitely was wholly professional while applying the sunscreen. Definitely.

After he suited up, and the door to the ship opened, Pidge jumped on Lance’s back startling him.. “Piggyback me?”

“Uh..What?” 

“Give me a piggyback ride until we can jack some clothing. I don’t even have shoes, man.” 

Oh, that made more sense to Lance. “Maybe you should stay here and wait for me to bring you some?” He felt that might make a better impression on the natives than him traipsing through town with a barely dressed paladin hanging off of him like a back pack. He knew nothing of the alien planet’s dress and what they considered acceptable.

“No way. I want to see this planet first too.” She gripped tighter around his neck. “Besides, it’s been ages since I had a “Lance’s Patented Piggy Back Ride Tour Extraordinaire’.”

Lance smiled at that. They used to cause a lot of uproar on some of the more boring planets they had to visit. People received quite a shock when they would run through towns, Pidge on his back, as he yelled whatever ‘interesting’ information he made up about the place they were in. 

The memory made him cave.He tilted his head far to the side in order to make eye contact with her. “Suit yourself, but if we don’t find shoes and clothes for you quick enough, you’re coming back here and waiting for me. Is that okay?”

She shrugged the best she could holding onto his neck. “Fair enough. Now tallyhoe noble steed!” She pointed past his head.

As they exited the ship into the burning landscape, the bright sun hit them full force causing Lance to squint and almost miss the person standing near their ship. It didn’t help that the guy looked like a humanoid tumbleweed. 

“I wouldn’t park there if I was you.” His drawl was slow and his motions unhurried as he pointed to the ship.

“Howdy.” Lance hoped that was appropriate, he never could guess what their translator devices were actually saying. 

The man nodded, “Yer ship. Ya best move it.” 

Pidge moved her head so it was next to Lance’s. “Why? My readings said this spot is stable.”

He reached up to tip his hat up, making eye contact with his beady black eyes. Everything the man did was slow. “It’ll bounce off soon.” He turned around and walked to a nearby shelter, something akin to a dusty old gas station on the edge of the desert back in Arizona.

“Hey!” Lance caught up with the guy. “Our ship will be okay. Pidge here, “ he hooked his thumb at her over his shoulder, “designed it to hover if the ground it’s on becomes unstable. She’s a genius.” 

The man looked at Pidge over Lance’s shoulder. “Suit yurself. Not my ship.” He shrugged, then his gaze sharpened. “Girly, where’s yer shoes? C’mer.” He motioned to them to follow him inside the structure.

Much to Lance’s delight, it was exactly what he expected. Run down, weird things for sale, probably some inflated price for fuel. He loved it.

The man rummaged around in a box behind the counter. Lance let Pidge slide off of him to stand on the soft ground. He noticed everything around them was soft, or designed with flexibility. Everything was anchored and attached, in cages or behind doors. There were no open containers anywhere. A fan blew from a corner, offering relief from the stagnante desert air. Pidge’s wild hair bounced in the wind.

“Here we are.” The man came from back around the counter handing a bundle to Pidge. “Smallest stuff I got.”

Pidge slid the robe-like garment over her head and the scruffy boots onto her feet. They seemed to fit well enough. Lance started laughing though.

“What is it? Do I really look that weird?” She held the sides of the garment out, like a princess descending a staircase. 

“You look like a nun who’s about to go rope a steer.” Making a praying hands gesture, Lance bowed, “Sister, please bless the cows before you rope them.” He trailed off with more laughter.

The grizzled outpost attendant interrupted. “Now is not the time for jokes. Y’all come out here in your fancy ship, but you don’t even have proper clothes. Well, “ he pointed at Lance, “You do. Why didn’t ya give yer heifer any good clothing? Somethin’ I ain’t supposed to ask about?” He glared at Lance, clearly misunderstanding the situation.

“His WHAT!?” Pidge’s voice broke through, loud and high pitched. Lance guessed she really didn’t like being called a cow.

“I am not his ‘heifer’ or anything for that matter! Thanks for the clothes but we gotta go.” She grabbed Lance’s arm and attempted to drag him out of the outpost.

“Wouldn’t do that if I was you.” The old man sat down, buckling a support around his waist. “The Movement is about to start.”

Pidge froze, Lance slammed into her. They both turned back to the guy. “The Movement? Care to explain.”

The man held out two more straps. “Come buckle up. You better hope yer fancy ship will float like you said.”

Before they could make a decision, the ground started to sway. Pidge held onto Lance’s arm for balance.

“Woah! What was that? An earthquake?” Lance started dragging pidge toward the guy. Clearly he knew something Lance didn’t.

“Sort of. They’re on the move. Now get secured or you’ll end up dead.” The old man glared at both of them, holding out the tethers, the ground began rocking and moving more than ever. Lance was taking no chances, he bolted over to the guy as quick as possible. He was still dragging Pidge, who hadn’t seemed to recover from the sudden change of directive.

They got buckled in quickly enough, Lance needing to help Pidge get hers on too. She looked stunned, a glassy look in her eyes and something like fear on her face. Finally she seemed to wake from her stupor.

“IS THIS AN EARTHQUAKE!?” She held onto Lance and the old man.

“Where were you two minutes ago? I already asked that!” Everything was shaking and rolling. Lance looked out through the available window, the clouds, what little existed on this planet, were whizzing by giving the appearance of rapid movement. He looked down and saw the ship hovering beautifully, no loss there thank goodness.

“It’s working Pidge! The ship is safe!” He had to yell above the horrendous sound of the ground creaking and moving all about. 

Pidge just looked at him with watery eyes and then threw up all over her ‘new’ clothing.

The old man laughed, “Don’t worry kiddo, it’s about to stop. Thank goodness your boyfriend there secured you tight enough, or you’d be dead instead of just sick.” 

As suddenly as it started, it stopped. The dust settled and the old man unbuckled himself. “Looks like we’ll be here awhile, plenty of clouds in this part.”

“Hokey Pete!” Lance rose from his squatting position, dusting off his clothes and testing his legs against the ground. Everything seemed really firm again, safe for them to get going. He held out his hand to help Pidge up, but she shook her head ‘no’ and leaned back against the wall with her eyes closed.

“Mister, you have any water for Pidge here?” 

The old man went to a heavily locked cooler of sorts and pulled out a pouch. “Here ya go.” He tossed it to Lance, and then grabbed a cloth and tossed that as well. “Clean her up. You can keep the clothes. I don’t have no use fer them anyhow.” 

Pidge took the offered water and rinsed out her mouth while Lance tried to clean her up. “I thought is was Hunk who had the messed up stomach. You always seemed to be able to handle anything.” 

“Joke’s on you. I’ve barely been flying these last couple of years,” She spit out on the ground, “And I really hate earthquakes.” She made eye contact with the old guy. “You live on a quiznaking camel!? A giant, overgrown, dusty camel!?” 

“I don’t know what yer on about, but yeah, we live on a giant being. All of us here found it’s a lot easier for it to take us to water than fer us to wait fer water to come to us. And it’s a humdinger of an adventure.” He dusted himself off and went about straightening the last of the movement’s effects. “Now how about you youngins tell me what yer doin here? It best not be nefarious.” He stared them down, then his stern look broke into a smile. “Nah, I’m kiddin ya. All sorts of folks come this way, I’m not here to judge.”

Pidge spoke up finally, “You said all sorts of folks come here? You ever run into two people who look sort of like us?” She was punching in some stuff on her wrist com. A hologram of Hank and Lulu popped up. “These people?”

The man’s face lit up with delight. “OH I’ll be! Hank and Lu. Yeah I know them. Been round these parts for awhile now. What you need with them?” 

“We’re supposed to make sure they’re okay and get word back to Earth.” Pidge slipped into business mode, her tone was straight forward, offering little other information.

“Ah, y’all are Earthlings. Pleased to meet ya.” He tipped his hat. “Hank and Lu probably won’t be back for some time, they only make it over to drop off supplies a couple times a year. And, considering your reaction to the Movement, I wouldn’t suggest you stay around waiting.”

Lance sat back as Pidge continued her interrogation, she jumped into this mission surprisingly well for being an unwilling participant.

“You know where they went? Cause I would like to get out of here before the next Movement.”

“Fair enough. They were off to Parasion after this if I remember correctly.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully.

Pidge’s fingers flew over her wrist device again, her brow creasing in frustration. She looked at Lance. “There’s nothing in my maps or data about Parasion.” Lance shrugged, not sure what she wanted from him. Pidge made a face and huffed before she turned her attention back to the old man.

“You know where Parasion is?”

“Yep.”

“Can you tell us?”

“I reckon so.”

“Well.”

Silence. 

Pidge had never been at the top of the list when they went on diplomatic missions,and with the look of growing irritation on her face, Lance was reminded why. He however, was often teamed with Hunk for those types of missions, he stepped in to avoid Pidge getting any more irritated.

“Would you be willing to tell us how to get there? Please? We could really use some help, and we can’t get back home unless we find them. “ Lance threw in the little white lie hoping it would pull at the man’s heartstrings, if he had a heart, physically as well as metaphorically. Sometimes alien biology threw Lance for a loop.

“Yer a nice kid. Yer friend could use a lesson or two from you.” The man hooked his thumb over his shoulder to point back at Pidge. Lance laughed to himself at Pidge’s very angry face, that changed to a sickeningly sweet one the moment the man turned back around to face her. Maybe it was good that she rarely went on the diplomatic missions. Straight forward Pidge was way better than fake sweet Pidge. 

“Come here and I’ll download the star chart for this quadrant into your arm thingy.”

Pidge came over and inspected the man’s devices before she would allow him to download anything into her system. “Checks out.” was all she said before hacking right in and getting the info she needed. Lance found he was becoming increasingly thankful for Shiro and Iverson stowing Pidge on board. He may not be dumb, but he definitely wouldn’t have the star chart already. 

Pidge was scrolling through the info, her brow raising at something she came across, then a smirk appeared on her face. “Not one to judge, eh? More like you don’t want others in your business either.” She took off toward the ship quickly once realization dawned on the man’s face. 

“Also, thanks for the clothes! Hahaha!” She made a rude gesture before getting on the ship.

Lance lagged way behind. “I’m sorry for that. Not Pidge, she’s just had a rough 24 hours. I’m sorry you had to be part of it. Thank you again.” Lance waved as he headed to the ship to join Pidge. 

The old man hollered out to him, “Y’all come back now, but leave your she-devil elsewhere.”

“Hey!” Lance was not going to let anyone call Pidge that. He also saluted with a rude gesture and was going to head back to give the man a piece of his mind, but Pidge grabbed his collar and hauled him into the ship.

She’d already stripped the robe off and was standing in her pajamas and the boots.

“What dirt did you find on him that set him off so bad anyway?” 

Pidge sat back on her makeshift seat, setting coordinates for Parasion. “The man’s a thief. Takes people’s GAC while he downloads his star charts into their system. I knew the moment I accessed his system. He wasn’t expecting me to log into it on my own” She spun to face him. “Coordinates are in, now take off before he comes after us, captain.” 

The title warmed Lance from the inside out. “I don’t think he’s coming after us, he even told me to come back some time.”

Pidge turned to face her instruments again, “Not once he finds out I ‘borrowed’ from his little enterprise. I hope the next planet uses GAC, because we’re loaded.” Lance could see her wicked, little smirk from the side of her face.

Lance threw the ship into gear and took off. No telling what that guy had his hands into. For all he knew, those cupboards were loaded with weapons.

“You better be right, because we’re going to need to get you proper clothes. And maybe a spacesuit for planets we can’t breath on.”


	4. Pushing Their Limits

Space travel through this quadrant turned out to be a little more dicy than either of them had predicted. Though the tumbleweed man’s map proved helpful, it didn’t explain why everything moved slower around this area. It seemed like the faster they tried to go, the farther everything was. Pidge mumbled something about “universal inconsistencies” and “when I get my hands on Slav”, but she couldn’t find a good mathematical reason for the problem with speed around these parts. Where they would have been at Parasion in a matter of minutes back on Earth, if the distance was the same, out here it was going to take several hours. Hours with nothing to do but sit in silence trying not to step on each other’s toes. And Lance had thought Pidge was warming back up to him again. She even let him give her a piggyback ride. 

The awkward silence went on a little while more. Lance had turned sideways in his chair and was lounging, his head bent all the way over one of the arms of the chair, counting the bolts in the ceiling. So far his count was zero. It was a very sleek design for a ship.

Pidge cleared her throat, standing up from her rolling cart seat. “I’m going to go through the supplies and see just what three drunk dudes thought you would need on a three month journey.” She walked past him quickly toward the back of the ship.

Lance jumped up from his supine position. “I wanna come too. Maybe together we can get an accurate inventory?”

Pidge shrugged, “Suit yourself. But you’re going to have to inventory everything up high then.”

They walked together to the back, opening up lockers and boxes along the way. They found sufficient food and water for two people, even several packs of oreos, which Pidge promptly tried to fight Lance for. They agreed to share finally.

After their inventory of supplies was almost complete, Pidge cried out with joy from back in the bowels of the ship. “Hoohoo! My suit!” She came out, cradling her paladin armor in her arms.

“Slav may be a pain, but he really did think of everything. Oh suity, I’m so happy to see you. Mwah.” She kissed her helmet, then looked up at Lance. “I’m going to go to the sleeping quarters and change.” She left him standing in the hallway. 

They hadn’t inventoried the sleeping quarters yet, so Lance moved to wait outside the door for Pidge to finish dressing so they could finish cataloguing their supplies together.

He heard her shuffle around inside, close to the door from what he could tell. Moments later the door slid open with far more force than an automatic door should. Pidge stood in the doorway, arms and legs spread wide as she leaned over it. “LANCE!” She shouted right in his face before seemed to realize he was right there.

“Oh, you’re here.” She dropped her arms and straightened up. “We have a problem.” Pidge moved aside and indicated Lance should come into the sleeping quarters with her.

He hadn’t been in here yet, the whole mission being sprung on him rather quickly. It was small, that’s the first thing Lance realized as Pidge slid up next to him. Together they took up the majority of the floor space. There was a small desk at the other end and the door to the bathroom opposite the bed. The bed was tucked in an alcove, similar to their beds back on the Lion Castle. As far as Lance could see, nothing was amiss.

“What’s wrong?” He tilted his head.

Pidge leaned to the side and flung the bathroom door open. It looked a lot bigger than Lance had expected after seeing the small bedroom. “No shower. It was scheduled to be installed next week.” Lance could now see the space where the shower should be. Explains the roominess in there.

“So, we have to hold it until we get to Parasion? I think we’re good.” They’ve been in worse situations. Lance shuddered remembering the few times they had to make do with whatever facilities they could come up with. “Besides, we’re sure to have empty pouches soon enough.”

“Gross.” Pidge made a face. “The toilet is installed and functioning. Just not the shower. Also,” She spun him around pointed to the bed. “Where is the second bunk?”

Lance shrugged. How should he know. “There’s not a second bunk.”

“Duh. I can see that. But there was. This ship was designed to have up to two people on it. Now where is the bunk?” 

Lance could see how this could be an issue. Hopefully they find a planet to chill on and they can camp outside instead. It’d be kind of fun honestly. 

“What’s that?” Lance noticed an envelope taped on the wall above the remaining bed. He and Pidge reached for it at the same time, but his longer arms got to it first. He didn’t know how they missed it the first time, it was very distinct. Lance was laughing at the drawing on the front of Shiro, Iverson, and Slav high fiving one another. 

“Give it here ...Please.” Pidge snatched it out of his hands, opening it up in a hurry.

“This handwriting is terrible. Worse than Matt’s. Shiro didn’t write this.” She began to read.

Dear Lance and Pidge,

Figure it out and you can come home. Not sorry about the bunk bed, keeping it in would have resulted in many peoples’ deaths. (At least according to Slav).

-Iverson.

Pidge folded the letter up in a huff. “If he wasn’t always spot on, I’d kill Slav when I got home.”

Lance was about to discuss their future sleeping arrangements when the ship indicated they had arrived in orbit above Parasion. That went faster than he had expected. He and Pidge ran back out to the bridge to answer the hail.

“Delta One Three Nine. Announce who you are and reason for visit. We will determine dock status from there.” A holographic image announced.

Pidge was looking a lot more ‘with it’ with her paladin armor on. Lance moved next to her so they could both be seen on the screen. “Lance McClain and Pidge Gunderson..er..Ka-”

“Pidge is fine. We are paladins of Voltron, searching for two individuals from our home planet. We believe they may be on your planet. Hank and Lulu. Have you heard of them?”

The being on screen was very lizard-like in appearance, except that he wore what looked like a curled powdered wig similar to those Lance had seen in history textbooks back home, as well as a stiff-looking regimental uniform. He looked about as pompous as a lizard-man could look.

The man responded, a bored tone in his voice. “Paladins of Voltron? Where were you last year when it would have been all the rage? I suppose I can let you in, but don’t expect a party or anything.” The man waved his hand, dismissing them before sending landing coordinates to their ship. The screen went blank.

Pidge was typing away on a virtual keyboard, “The security is really tight here.”

“Is that going to be an issue? Can you find out if Hank and Lulu have been here?” Lance had been planning to chill on this planet for a little while, maybe sleep in a nice hotel if they had one, but after the less than enthusiastic response from the lizard-man, he was beginning to have his doubts. Maybe this would turn into a ‘get in, get info, get out’ type of stop.

“I can hack their system, but not without some ramifications. If they can’t provide us with the info we need, I’ll get it, but we’ll need to be prepared to run.” Pidge shifted her glasses on her face.

Once their ship passed through the upper atmosphere, glittering lights and skyscrapers taller than anything in New York City, twisting and turning with organic, fluid shapes, dotted the landscape. Signs and flashing billboards advertised everything from fangpaste to the newest musical act in bright, elegant script. The walkways and roads were full of traffic, both foot and vehicle. The sun was setting, bathing the sky in a pink and orange glow, the perfect backdrop to the fantastical city before them. 

“Wow.” 

Lance turned to look at Pidge, thinking the same thing. The pink lighting caused a pleasant glow on her skin. 

“It’s gorgeous. I was worried they might not have hotels, but now I think we’ll get to stay in the lap of luxury. If they take GAC that is.” His shoulders drooped for a moment as he worried they might not have the funds to afford staying on this planet. He imagined them getting info from a seedy back alley and having to sleep in cardboard boxes for the night. Lance shook his head to clear the dismal train of his thoughts.

Pidge checked her arm computer again. “Oh, they take GAC all right. And, if I understand what I’m reading, they’ll trade if they’re entertained enough as well.” She looked at Lance, one eyebrow going up. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Lance had no idea. Pidge was still Pidge, but he hadn’t talked with her for two years until roughly 24 hours ago. Some things she suggested were now on the slightly illegal side of things, and he wasn’t sure how comfortable he was with whatever it was that was on her mind now. He chanced a guess anyway. “That we get the fanciest hotel they have and then order room service and act like royalty?”

Pidge shook her head, “No, pfft. Where’s the fun in that? I was thinking a dialed down version of the Voltron Show. I mean, we were clearly the most outgoing of the original group anyway. Well, minus Coran, but I’m sure we could channel his spirit.” She fiddled with her wrist com as Lance stared at her. What a wild idea coming from her. 

“It wouldn’t work. There’s only two of us. And..it’s not the same without…” He let her name hang back in his mouth. 

A sudden flash of anger swept over Pidge’s face. “You can say it, you know!?.” She got up in a huff. “You weren’t the only one who lost her. I miss Allura too. We all do. You’re not special because of it.” She stormed off toward the back of the ship.

“That’s not..I didn’t mean..I..Pidge!” Lance felt like he had whiplash from the sudden change in Pidge’s demeanor. One minute she had the wicked smirk back on her face. The one he had always both loved and hated to see. The next minute she had tears in her eyes and was yelling at him about Allura. He was tired of holding everything back in front of everyone. Not saying her name unless it was official business had become his habit. He missed her, but not in the way everyone seemed to have come to expect him to. Pining boyfriend of a princess who sacrificed herself for the universe? It was a title he wanted less and less each year. He headed toward the back of the ship to explain himself to Pidge. Only, she ran into him on the way.

Her head was down, and she was holding her helmet in her hands. “I’m sorry, Lance. I should not have blown up at you. You can pine for Allura forever and that’s your choice. You are an adult and I cannot control your emotions. I am an adult and I can control mine.” She didn’t look up once.

“That sounds like an excellent therapist speech, but not like you actually believe it.” Lance put his hand on her shoulder. She finally looked up at him.

“I do...in a way. I am an adult, that much is true.” She stopped speaking and stared at him for a moment. “I wish...I just wish.... You’re like a new Lance out here, and it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours yet.” 

Lance thought a moment before speaking, he’d spent so long letting everyone believe whatever they wanted to about him that he was finding it difficult to formulate exactly what he was going to say about how he’d been feeling and what he’d been thinking. “I am an adult too. And I’m sorry I upset you. I’m not pining. Not the way everyone assumes I am. I just don’t know when it’s okay to say her name or not. Everyone treats her like some sacred and holy being and I’m ‘so blessed’ to have been her chosen one or whatever.” Lance threw his hands up in the air before letting them slap down to his sides. “I’m tired of that. I’m glad to be out here. I’m glad-”

The ship jerked forward as it docked, cutting off Lance’s monologue. The door opened immediately, Pidge mumbling “That should not be possible” before two armed lizard men entered.

“Paladins Lance and Pidge, please follow us to planet registration before we direct you to your quarters. We will declare your allotted amount of stay once we settle on your complete business here.”

Pidge shrugged, popping her helmet on. The taller man stopped her, “That won’t be necessary, we do need you to strip for the scan once inside.”

They were led down a long, white hallway, devoid of the pomp and glitz of the city outside. The guards led them into a room with a decontamination shower and several other members of their guard. 

One of the guards pointed a hand-held scanning device at them. “Please strip down and we will confirm your identity and place you in the correct sleeping zones.”

“Um,” Lance raised his hand, hoping this was a universal enough sign for questions. 

Another guard, with a much sillier wig on his head, gave Lance permission to speak.

“Is there another room for Pidge? I’m not sure she-” Pidge grabbed his arm, interrupting him.

“It’s okay Lance, it’s not like I have anything anyone hasn’t seen before.” She stared at the guards, “though maybe they haven’t, what with being reptilian and all.”

“Pidge!” Lance was shocked at her lackadaisical attitude toward stripping down in front of a whole group of male guards, as well as him. “I‘ve not seen you naked!” The declaration ended with a high pitch squeak in his voice. He turned to her to grab her arms, but a guard stopped him from moving any closer to Pidge. “Please request a different room!” It dawned on Lance that she was going to see him naked as well, and that wasn’t something Lance was prepared to let happen. At least not in these circumstances.

Pidge locked her eyes onto Lance. She began removing her armor piece by piece. “I’ve seen you naked before. The whole mess of you guys, actually.” She rolled her eyes before locking them back onto his face. “What is it about males and their lack of modesty anyway?” She dropped another piece of her armor onto the floor.

Lance wracked his brain, when had she seen him naked!? Oh..yeah. When they all thought she was a he. Memories quickly flooded Lance of their time at the Garrison and on the Castle of Lions. Hoo boy, now he remembered Pidge yelling at them all when they had barged in on her shower after training. He had badgered her at the time about why she didn’t just use the pole showers like everyone else. She had definitely seen them all naked more than once. He’ll have to apologize for that some day, but now wasn’t the time.

Another piece of her armor dropped. 

She continued to stare directly at him as she began to remove her flight suit.

“PIDGE IS A GIRL!” In his panic Lance gave away her secret.

Everyone froze. The original guard, the one that had hailed them upon entering Parasion’s orbit, started to clap his hands.

“Oh ho ho! Pidge is a Girl? This is astounding news! This changes everything. Oh the delight!” 

He rushed over to her, staying her hands with his. “No need to remove any more clothing. I must ask you though” He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a conspiratorial look. “To keep this quiet. It’ll be such a lark when I introduce you at the banquet tomorrow. Hohohoho!” He was practically floating with delight as he started to usher her out of the room.

Lance didn’t like that at all. 

“Lance? You coming?” Pidge looked around the guard, back at him, a questioning look on her face.

“Oh don’t mind him. He’s not the guest of honor here. You are my dear.” The guard squeezed her cheeks. Lance enjoyed the cross-eyed look she gave.

“Eiver Wance comes or I dunt.” Pidge tried to make her request known through her squeezed cheeks.

“Oh, sorry my dear.” The guard dropped his hands. “What was that again?”

Pidge rubbed her cheeks. “Either Lance comes or I don’t!” She stomped her foot to emphasize her point. 

Lance hadn’t realized he was being left behind until that moment. Back in the day, he was definitely up on the list of paladins everyone wanted an autograph from. He reveled in it. It dawned on him he hadn’t been basking in anyone’s attention nearly as much for the last four years. And now that he wanted it, they were ignoring him.

The guard looked Lance up and down before turning back to Pidge. “Are you sure? He’s so last season.” 

Pidge nodded an emphatic yes while digging her heels into the floor to avoid being pushed further out the door. 

The guard rolled his eyes “Fine. But you’re going to have to share your hotel room with him. I cannot just go out on a limb for anyone.

The guard turned and hollered “Toolair! Prepare The Suite. Accommodations for two. Snap Snap.” he clapped his hands at one of the other guards.

Lance breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried about being separated from Pidge. This place made it seem like it would be really hard to find her otherwise.

Pidge held out her hand to him. “Come on Lance, they want us to go.” 

He shook his head again, before running forward and grabbing her hand as they led them away.


	5. Just Like Old Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is really short because I couldn't decide if I wanted it at the end of the last chapter or the beginning of the next chapter. So here it is, in between.

The hotel room was more than Lance could have ever imagined. From what he could gather, it was on the top floor of one of their most prestigious buildings, a place where their most valued entertainers stayed where they were in the city. The guard, who they finally learned was named Ehltior, instructed them that they could order whatever they wanted and it would be brought to the room (by the very discreet staff) but, they were not to leave it until the banquet the following evening unless a companion was sent and they were told to go. Pidge had tried to work in her information gathering about Hank and Lulu again, but her request was waved away, with Ehltior stating that he did not have time to trifle with lost humans as he had a splendid event to organize. 

Ehltior left in a flourish, leaving Lance and Pidge standing in the spacious living area of the suite.

Lance immediately plopped down on the plush, cream colored, couch. He ran his hands along the back of it in appreciation. 

“How legit is this? I mean, even I couldn’t imagine this amount of opulence. It sucks that we can’t go out though.” He turned his head toward Pidge, who had silently walked to the floor to ceiling windows and stared out at the skyline.

“It’s kind of weird, don’t you think?” She turned back toward him and moved to sit on the couch near him. 

Lance shrugged the best he could while still laying on the couch. “I guess, but would you look at this place?” He gestured around the giant room. “We have three Earth months to find Hank and Lulu, what harm would a couple of days here be? He flopped back, putting his arms behind his head. Pidge’s face came into view above him.

“I’m going to trust you this time, because we really don’t have much of a choice. This place is locked down tight.” 

The urge to reach up and squeeze her cheeks like Ehltior did overwhelmed him. So he did. She looked adorable with her face all scrunched up. Too bad she moved back out of his view so quickly. 

“What was that for?” She rubbed one of her cheeks. Lance noticed her mood seemed to have lightened since they left the ship.

“Don’t know. Now it’s time for this farmer boy to take a bath.” Lance hopped up, heading to the first bathroom he saw, mainly to avoid answering questions he didn’t even have the answer for. 

“Uh, Lance?” Pidge’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“You know that’s the guest bathroom. There are two bedrooms here, each with their own bathroom.” 

“Huh, I did not know that.” Lance looked around, confused because he could only see the kitchen and the giant livingroom and the huge windows that looked out over the city.

“Come here.” Pidge went over to a panel on the left side of the room. “Here, say your name.” She pointed to a small microphone.

“Lance.” Nothing happened.

“No, you dummy, say your full name. Like this,” She leaned into the micropone “Pidge Gunderson, paladin of Voltron.” 

Suddenly, the mirrored walls on either side slid open revealing two identical, opulent rooms, with the fluffiest beds Lance had ever seen.

“How did you know about this? We’ve been together the whole time and I didn’t see anyone explain anything to you.” He was pretty amazed.

“I had downloaded as much info as I could once we were in orbit. Surprisingly, this place was mapped out in the old man’s info back on the first planet. I have a full read-out of this hotel.” She looked smug for a moment, but then her face fell. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to make it past their security system yet, so I can’t really do anything with this knowledge currently. Anyway, you’re right, this place is quiznacking awesome. We might as well enjoy it.” The wicked glint came back to her eyes. 

“Race you to the bath!” Before Lance realized what was going on, Pidge took off toward one of the bedrooms. Lance started to run after her.

She stopped him. “Your room has one too, you know. You don’t have to share mine.” And with another wicked laugh she closed the mirrored panel to her room.

Lance may have been feeling more himself in these last 24 hours than he had in a long time, but Pidge was turning out to be someone far more “Pidge” than she ever was before. Was that flirting she had tried just then? 

His brain got after him for that thought. He promptly told it to shut up before heading to his own luxurious bath.

They spent the rest of the evening lounging about in the living room, in the plushest robes Lance had ever had the pleasure of wearing. He convinced Pidge to do a face mask, and they watched BiBoBi televisions shows until they fell asleep on the couch.


	6. Maybe a Nap Was All You Needed?

Lance’s arm felt numb, but otherwise, he was more comfortable than he had been in years. The bright morning sun shining through the gigantic windows had roused him from one of the best sleeps he had ever had. He freed his arm from its prison and stretched out his sleepiness, then wrapped his arms back around the snoring pillow that was laying on top of him.

Snoring pillow?

Cracking one eye against the bright sun, he looked down to find Pidge’s wild mop of auburn hair spread across his chest. He sucked in a breath and held it. An assessment of the situation revealed that they were both lying supine on the larger couch, Lance on his back, his arms wrapped around Pidge, who was sleeping fully on top of him, her arms wrapped around him tightly. Their legs were tangled up, and they were slightly angled to the side. Lance knew they hadn’t fallen asleep like that, he wondered when the shift occurred.

Either way, he was not going to be the one to wake Pidge up and explain their rather intimate situation. So he pretended to still be asleep. 

Laying there, holding Pidge in his arms, waiting for her to wake up first, gave Lance a lot of time to think. His first thought was how nice this felt. His second, how thankful he was that Pidge was with him on this mission. Even though, through the drunken bravado of his commanders, Lance had been confident he would complete this mission with little to no trouble, he realized how much longer everything might have taken, and how lonely it might have been. 

The last two days, Lance felt more like himself than he had in years. He loved his family, loved their farm, loved spreading Allura’s message, but he had lost himself in that love. And not in a good way. Where was the part of him that wanted to be a pilot? Where was the cocky guy who actually thought he could beat Keith in a fight? Where was the gamer who, when he returned to Earth, wanted nothing better than to hug his family, get a bunch of snacks from Hunk, and then spend hours, maybe days, playing every video game ever with Pidge?

He hugged Pidge just a little bit then. Hopefully not enough to wake her up. He missed so much and so many people these last four years. And, once Pidge quit being involved with him at all, he lost himself completely. He remembered the odd lump that settled in his chest the day he realized she was no longer taking his calls. It had remained there, until two days ago when he found her tied up in one of the tool boxes on the ship.

Suddenly, Pidge jerked from his arms with a cry of “Quiznak!”. She shifted away from him quickly, but still managed to be sitting on his legs. Lance chanced opening his eyes.

“Morning sleepy head.” He said with a yawn, while stretching his arms above his head. 

Pidge whipped her head around to look at him. Her eyes were warm and golden this morning, her hair a wild mess floating about her head. A bright blush spread across her cheeks. Lance’s heart lurched a little bit in his chest. He’d missed her so much.

“We fell asleep on the couch.” He made no move to get up, instead opting to cross his arms behind his head and enjoy the scene before him. Agitated Pidge was also a fun Pidge to watch.

“Duh,” She tapped his chest with the back of her hand, “I...Just...What time is it?”

She jumped up from his legs, looking around. “Where’s a clock? Why do I care anyway? Ugh.” She flopped back down again, landing on his legs once more. Sometimes, Lance forgot he was tall. She turned back to him. “You just wake up?”

How desperately, in that moment, Lance wanted to pull her down against him and lay there the rest of the morning. But, he was sure, she didn’t know that he knew how they had been sleeping.

He avoided answering her question. “I don’t know about you, Pidge, but that was probably one of the best night’s sleep of my life.” He watched as the blush spread from her face down her neck. “I can’t believe sleeping on a couch would be that comfortable. Also, you’re on my legs.”

Pidge hopped up like a fire had been set under her. “OH! Sorry.” She stood and stared at him. Lance wasn’t sure if she was waiting for him to do something or if he should wait on her.

The hotel staff made the decision for them, as a knock sounded on the door. They did not wait for approval before entering.

“The morning meal, honored guests.” Two creatures Lance had not seen before brought in a rolling cart laden with food. Lance hoped this was one of those planets where they ate similarly to humans. The two creatures left as quickly as they had come in. Lance’s stomach rumbled.

“Hold on.” Pidge held her arm out to him, causing him to pause on his way to the breakfast table. “We need to make sure this is safe to eat. Remember everything Hunk taught us? Where’s your survival skills?” She rolled her eyes before going over to scan the food.

“Hey! I wasn’t the one who ate those weird lump things on that one planet and ended up having blue spots for a week!” He chuckled, remembering how hungry Pidge had been and how quickly she had regretted satiating her hunger on that planet.

‘Why do you think I’m stopping you now? I, unlike some people, learn my lessons.” She turned the scanner off. “Looks okay. At least for ingestion.”

“Hey! I learn my lessons!” Lance sat down at the table. 

“I never said I was talking about you. You’re the one that decided that.” She tore into what looked like a fruited bread. A purple fruited bread.

Lance shrunk down, somehow he knew she was, but he wasn’t going to press it further. The food looked good enough, but really oddly colored. Oh well, he was hungry and Pidge said it was safe. He tore into it with gusto.

“This is really good!” Lance was surprised. 

They ate in companionable silence, allowing their full bellies to provide them with a sense of security for the moment.

Pidge spit the contents of the cup she had just drunk from all over his face. 

“Not coffee.” She said amongst her gags.

The liquid was dripping down Lance’s face, a dozen thoughts flying through his head. Pidge looked so disgusted, her nose scrunching up and her tongue sticking out, that he had to laugh. And once he started he couldn’t stop. He laughed and laughed, and shortly afterward Pidge joined in too.

“I’m...hehehe..sorry! Heheehee!” She kept laughing. 

“Forgiven.” Lance kept laughing. He felt as light as a feather, like all the burdens he had been unknowingly carrying had just floated away. 

Their laughter was dying down when Ehltior came in with another person in tow.

“Oh good! You both seem to be in a festive mood. Wonderful, wonderful. You must keep your spirits up for the event this evening.” He clapped his hands, an air of affectedness around him.

He pulled the young woman forward, “This is Clara. She will be your guide today and your guard. You are to go where she takes you and follow her directions. You must be properly prepared for tonight.” 

Clara was not a lizard-like being like the ones in charge. Instead, she was covered in a soft looking fur, her face shape and build reminiscent of a cat. Lance recalled the people who brought in the food earlier, realizing they were cat-like as well. Hmmm.

She bowed, “It’s an honor to attend you today.”

“That’s enough, Clara.” Ehltior turned toward Pidge. “Now let’s get dressed for there is much to do today.”

Lance went to his room to get ready, and when he returned, everyone was gone. He called for Pidge, even going so far as to gain access to her room, which he found as devoid of people as the rest of the hotel room. He almost missed the note sitting on the table with their leftover breakfast.

To Pidge’s Companion,

We have taken her to prepare for the big reveal at the banquet tonight. Do not worry. You may relax at your leisure today, but you may not leave  
your room. 

Ehltior”

He crunched up the letter in his fist, both anger and worry quickly coursing through his veins. Anger at being left behind, forgotten about, and worry for Pidge. Do not worry. Pffft. He didn’t trust the ruling people on this planet, but he especially didn’t like that they separated Pidge from him. Or he from Pidge..He wasn’t sure how that went grammar wise. He ran to his room and slipped on his helmet.

“Pidge? Pidge!” He prayed she still had her wrist device on. He didn’t remember seeing it anywhere in her room. A communications window opened up on his visor, Pidge’s face coming into view. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“What is it? What’s up?” Pidge whispered into her comm.

All the worry that had left Lance came flooding back. “Where are you? Why are you being so quiet?” Pidge could be sneaky, but she was rarely quiet.

Her eyes darted to quickly look at something off screen. “I don’t know what you mean, I’m always quiet.” She spoke to him through gritted teeth.

“OOooh! Okay. You’re okay though? Right? What are you going to do when you get home?” He hoped she remembered the code they had come up with long ago. 

“I’m going to get a huge plate of peanut butter cookies and beat your butt at video games.” She spoke a little louder and cocked her eyebrow.

Lance sighed in relief. She was safe. She didn’t feel free to talk for some reason, but she wasn’t in any danger. If she had been, she would have said she would let him beat her at video games.

“Well, have fun? What are you doing anyway?” 

She rolled her eyes, “Apparently we’re going to a spa...and clothes shopping. I don’t have anything ‘presentable’ enough for the big event apparently. “ 

Lance laughed, “I mean, they’re not wrong, what were you going to wear? Your pajamas, or a puked covered linen robe?” He kept laughing.

Pidge joined in with a chuckle, Lance could only imagine what was going through her mind. “Well, I was thinking my Paladin armor since I have that as well, but apparently that’s a no go. You however, get to wear yours.” She pouted.

“Who’s that? Who are you talking to?” A voice came from somewhere out of frame.

Pidge turned her head, “It’s no one.” She turned to face the comm again. “I gotta go, just remember, I’m going to beat you at video games so hard.” And with a ‘blip’ she disappeared from his view.

He felt better with the second reassurance that she was safe. Pidge always could handle herself. The only time he remembered her being totally helpless was when she was grabbed to be tortured. He shuddered at the memory, better to let that lie in the past where it belonged.

Lance looked around the room. What was he going to do with a whole day stuck inside. It had been different when he thought he and Pidge would be stuck together, he knew there was no end of catching up they could do if he had taken advantage of the time correctly. But he rarely spent leisure time by himself anymore. He was alone a lot, that much was true, but it was always time occupied in his assigned tasks or missions of peace. A day to do nothing? That was a luxury he hadn’t had in a long time.

The time passed quicker than Lance expected, even though the only thing he did was some spa treatments and lay on the couch watching tv. Maybe not so much watching tv, as having the TV on in the background while he allowed himself to be alone with his thoughts.

He’d thought over the last four years of his life a lot in the last few days. Lance had come to a couple of conclusions. One, he feels just as lost as Hank and Lulu in some ways. Having a place in the universe but feeling more like it’s a placeholder. For what? He didn’t know. And two, he maybe missed Pidge more than he realized, and for a lot longer than he had been aware. What he was going to do with that knowledge seemed to hinge on him finding out what he had been waiting for.

“A guide will arrive in 10 minutes to escort you to the banquet. Please put on your uniform now.” The voice buzzed over some hidden intercom in the room startling Lance from his thoughts. 

10 minutes? More time had passed than he had realized. Where was Pidge anyway? Would they bring her back here before the banquet? His concern began to grow again as he dressed in his armor. The front door burst open without warning.

“Hey! I could have been naked you know!?” Did these people understand privacy at all?

“Paladin Lance, please follow me to the banquet hall.” He was another cat-like person sent to take him to the dinner.

“Where’s Pidge?” He was feeling antsy the longer they kept them apart. 

The guide dusted some microscopic crumb off his shoulder. “She will be introduced at the banquet. Please follow me.” He turned and began to walk down the hallway.

“Hey, wait!” Lance had to hurry after him. He guessed he really was persona non grata around here. The guide didn’t seem to care that he actually followed or not. He had to almost sprint to keep up.

He was led through back hallways and down quiet staircases until they popped out of a hidden entrance directly into a banquet hall of sorts. Lance was used to diplomatic galas where dignitaries all ate and drank and danced too much. This was lavish compared to all though events. The stark difference seemed to be dancing, instead of directly in the middle of the room, was relegated off to one corner, appearing almost as an afterthought. 

Lance spied a couple of the wig-bedecked lizard people dancing. He understood immediately why it wasn’t a main part of the banquet. If they were the good dancers in this setting, he’d hate to see anyone else. 

He was sat at a large table that was on a raised platform, similar to the wedding party at several weddings he’d attended over the years. The seat next to him was ornate as well as empty. He really hoped that was for Pidge.

Suddenly a high pitched, clear bell sounded throughout the room. Everyone stopped talking and looked around. 

“Honored guests” Lance had never in his life heard a more pompous voice. And he had been around Lotor before. 

“Please draw your attention to the center of the room.” A spot light appeared over a small roped off area Lance hadn’t noticed before.

“It is with great delight that I introduce to you Pidge, the green paladin of Voltron.” 

Music began to play, the kind designed to increase anticipation. Lance watched several people’s eyes glaze over, as if they had already become bored, but others leaned forward, trying to get a view of the reveal.

A hole opened in the middle of the roped off area and the music increased it’s urgency.

Some feathers, similar to peacock feathers, rose through the opening. 

Lance was transfixed, what had they done with Pidge?

Slowly, slowly, her head and then the rest of her body popped out of the hole. Lance had to hold back laughter at the scene unveiled before him. Was it possible to think someone was entirely ridiculous and positively stunning at the same time?

Pidge was dressed in a form-fitting green dress that covered her from neck to floor. It was covered in green and blue feathers and shimmered with every movement she made. The neck of the dress extended out in back, like the evil queens in old cartoon movies back on Earth. Huge feathers, similar to peacock feathers topped the neckline, creating an aura of sorts behind her head. Her hair was lifted and twisted until it rose up almost as high as the feathers on the neck of her dress. A large feather twisted flat along the length of her hair. Lance finally laughed when he saw her face. It was scrunched up in another one of her pouts, until Ehltior jabbed her in the side and she smiled.

Lance was taken aback. In this setting, even with the ridiculous dress and the hair, her false smile still took his breath away.

Pidge’s reveal seemed to have the desired effect as the astonished guest began to swarm her all at once. Within seconds, she disappeared amongst the crowd, the only indicator of her position a stray feather poking above peoples’ heads every so often. 

One of the servants came and stood near Lance. He recognized her as Clara, the one from earlier that was Pidge’s overseer.

“I beg your permission to speak, sir.” 

It took Lance a moment to realize she was addressing him.

“Oh, sure, whatever.” He turned to look at her. She put a hand out to stop him.

“She looks lovely..” She moved as if straightening Pidge’s soon to be chair.

Lance nodded, not moving his eyes from where Pidge was. The crowd would split for a moment and he’d get a glimpse of her shimmering form every few seconds. She did look lovely.  
And imposing.   
Pidge was always bigger than her stature.

Clara spoke again, “Please be careful who you trust.”

Lance whipped his head around at the warning only to find empty air where Clara was a moment before. He scanned the crowd, realizing he had also lost sight of Pidge and couldn’t find either woman.

Minutes flew by that seemed like hours and Lance sat at his seat, a bit concerned and a lot hungry. He wondered where Pidge was in the crowd, he wondered when everyone would eat. He wondered how long they would have to be here.He worried about what Clara had said to him. The unease that had settled on him this morning continued to grow. The overwhelming desire to be back on Pidge’s ship, just the two of them, swept through him. He decided to go find Pidge instead of sitting there with no one to talk to.

Almost the same moment his foot touched the bottom step of the raised platform, a lot of shouting started to come from the dance area, some sort of uproar had begun. Lance had just started toward the scene when Pidge burst out from the crowd in a full sprint toward him.

“Lance!” She grabbed his arm. “Let’s go play video games. I have a feeling you’re totally going to beat me.”

Alarm, swift and terrifying, rose up within Lance and he turned and began running with Pidge.

“What happened? What’s going on?” His breath was coming quickly.

“No time, just run.” She kicked off the shoes she was wearing and headed toward the banquet doors. Two heavily armed guards blocked their way. The angry crowd was closing in behind them. Lance grabbed his bayard while Pidge tried to wield her shoes as a weapon. 

Quickly assessing the situation, Lance realized they might be in real trouble. No teams members to help them out. No Lions’ rescues. No magic. Just the two of them, trapped in a building with some of the highest security Pidge had ever seen, with angry people coming at them from all directions and two armed guards blocking their only escape. 

Without a sound, Clara appeared next to Lance.

“Take me hostage.” 

“What!?”

“Just do it, Lance. Clara’s on our side.”

He grabbed Clara, holding his bayard up to her head. “There’s sides now!? I thought they were just weirdos!” Lance was shaking so badly with the adrenaline rush that he had to consciously make sure he didn’t actually pull the trigger. 

“L-let us go or Clara gets it!” Lance yelled with a bravado he did not feel at the moment.

Everyone froze. Ehltior came to the front of the crowd. “Let’s not be too hasty, Paladin Lance.” Genuine concern seemed to color his words. The same sort of tone someone might have if their property might get damaged.

“What’s going on?” He shouted it, confused. Pidge moved to stand slightly behind him.

Ehltior walked slowly toward them. “No need to go to such extremes, just release Clara to us, and we will let you go. This party’s become something of a scene anyway.” His laugh was high pitched and affected.

Lance loosened his grip on Clara’s arm. She whispered, “Don’t. Run now, take me along.” He remembered her warning, was she telling him to not trust her? Did she have a choice? Was she a part of a larger plan he was not in on?

Pidge grabbed Lance’s other arm imploring him with her eyes. “Just listen. On three we run.”

Pidge he trusted.

With his whole heart.

He nodded.

“1..2..3!” 

The three of them sprinted toward the door, though Clara made a good show of looking like she was being dragged along by them. The guards fired at Lance, but he dodged their fire easily enough. Clara grabbed something from her dress pocket and handed it to Pidge. Pidge threw it on the ground and smoke rose around them. 

“Come, follow me.”

Lance felt himself being pulled along through the smoke by Clara. Pidge clung to his arm in order to keep up.

They were out the door in seconds, running down the fancy corridor. 

Alarms were blaring and more and more guards poured out from previously hidden doorways.

“We’re not going to make it!” Lance panted out his concern.

Clara spoke, “They aren’t going to stop you as long as I’m involved.. Now run faster!”

“How do we know you’re not lying!?”

Laser gun fire erupted around them, clearly aimed at stopping them and not to kill. Pidge stumbled on the hem of her dress, pulling on his arm and slowing him down for a moment.

Without thinking about his next move, Lance turned and scooped her up, throwing her over his shoulder so they could run faster.

“Watch it!” Her voice wobbling with each bounce as he picked up speed.

“Sorry Pidge! We’re almost there!” He could see the door to the hangar in sight, remembering it from their time in the first inspection room. Pidge’s added weight didn’t slow him down in the slightest. Carrying her was still one of the easiest things in the world.

He looked to his left, Clara was keeping up with ease.

The hangar door was sealed tight. Lance looked behind them, hoping to find another way out. All he was met with was frozen guards and a long hallway. He raised his bayard, intent on blowing the hangar door open. 

Clara sat her hand on top of his and pushed the bayard down. Shaking her head at him, she lifted a jeweled necklace that was hanging around her neck and pressed a jewel centered on it.  
A click and then a whooshing sound followed. The door to the hangar opened.

Lance prepared to shoot his way through, but they were met with an empty hangar.

No time to question, they ran quickly to Pidge’s ship. It was hovering off the ground, access door open.

Lance put Pidge down. She let out a restrained laugh. “Thanks?” Her hair had come free of the ridiculous style, her cheeks were red, and Lance’s heart began to do funny things in his chest.

No time for that. Ignoring whatever was happening to him, he turned to Clara. “They’re in the ship, aren't they?”

She smiled a sad smile. “I can assure you Paladin, they are not. They will have decided by now to turn your escape into part of the spectacle.” A serious look crossed her face, “Make no mistake however, they will track you down once you have broken orbit.”

Pidge moved over and gave Clara a hug, “Thank you. We’ll get the word out. Don’t worry.”

Lance shook her hand, not yet sure he could trust her. He still expected the ship to be full of guards. “Why don’t you come with us? They’ll punish you for helping us get away, right?”

She looked smug, “I have made myself indispensable to them. They will do me no harm. Now please, go before they change their minds. “ She began pushing them to their ship.

Lance kept his bayard out, expecting an ambush, but nothing of the sort happened. Pidge pushed him down in the captain’s chair and ran over to her rolling cart. “Get us out of here.” 

“Aye aye Captain!” Lance saluted her. She rolled her eyes and turned back to navigating. 

A loud sound shook the ship and Pidge yelled out moments later, “It looks like they changed their mind, the bay doors are closing.”

With no time to think, Lance guided the ship through the laser fire and other weapons now being aimed at them. Pidge hollered out directions.Part of the landing gear had not retracted when they passed over a barrier, catching on the metal guard wires, whipping them off course wildly. Lance gripped the controls with white knuckles, doing everything in his power to right the ship. Pidge hollered for him to bank left and reverse thrust. Lance followed through with her direction, knocking out a couple of small cruisers that were trying to take them out before the bay doors closed. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face. The bay doors were closing quicker now and at an angle. He’d have to tilt the ship at the last minute to make it through. I focused calm settled on him. He was able to think of everything and nothing all at once.

He could be home right now, planting flowers.

He flew the ship straight toward the opening, clipping off the wing of one of the Parasion’s ships in the process. 

He could be home right now, tending the farm.

Lazer fire rocked the ship. Pidge threw the shields up.

He could be home right now, playing the part he was expected to play.

It was now or never. He tilted the ship left, then right, slipping through the remaining opening without an inch to spare. The adrenaline rushed through him and he shouted ‘Yahoooo!” before pumping his fist, then shooting into space full throttle. 

He could be home right now, but he was emphatically happy he was not.

Pidge was looking at him, astonishment written on her face. “That was amazing, Lance. Literally amazing.” She kept staring.

He felt a blush creep over his cheeks at her attention, “Thanks. You made an amazing ship.”

She blushed, “thanks”.

They held each other’s gazes far longer than need be before Pidge cleared her throat and turned back to the screens she had open. “Anyway, they’re going to be after us very soon. I already ran a scan that shorted the trackers they put on the ship, but they have excellent long distance radar and nuclear thermal location devices. We’re going to have to run silent for a long time. My intel gathering indicates they may be after us a long while. They do not like to lose.” She avoided looking back at Lance the whole time she was speaking.

“What did you do?” If there was one thing he knew about Pidge, she didn’t hide her guilt well, and she was acting guilty. Then again, it could have been the dress she was still wearing. It had an evil queen vibe about it.

“We. It’s what we did.” She was still scanning the screens and pressing lots of buttons.

Irritation scratched at his temples. Sometimes getting what he wanted out of Pidge proved to be a challenge. And if he was being really honest, many times.

“We met Claudio. And I gambled using the money we took from him.” Lance could tell she was trying hard to hold a smile back.

“Who’s Claudio? And you were gambling without me?” Lance put his hand to his chest and acted shocked. Pidge and he always found money whatever planet they went and always gambled it for fun. It always felt easier wasting non Earth currency. They never gambled back home.

Pidge scratched under her ear. “The old man. Back on the camel.” She pulled at her neck line.

“His name is Claudio!?” Lance laughed out loud. “Claudio...does not match..” He felt warm inside.

Pidge was sweeping her hands all over her dress, looking more and more frustrated. “Pay attention Lance.” A laugh escaped her despite her efforts. “Claudio’s money was the Parasion’s money. He a resistance supplier.” She pulled at her skirt.

Lance wasn’t following. “So, they should be happy you got their money back.” He watched as Pidge stood and started to wiggle around. He waved his hand at her. “What in the quiznack are you doing here?”

“I can’t--” She spun around once in a similar manner to a dog chasing its tail. “--find the zipper. Help me get this dress off.” She moved over near him.

“But you haven’t explained why we were suddenly no longer the guests of honor.” Anything to distract himself from the idea of helping Pidge take her dress off. 

Pidge turned her back to him. “Get this dress off and I’ll reward you with the info.”

Lance groaned inwardly. Something long dormant and never really examined bubble just under his skin, and being near Pidge was causing it to boil to the surface. He wasn’t ready to face whatever it was, so he did the next best thing, think about the worst things.

Pidge asked him to run his hands along her back and side because she was 90 percent sure the fasteners were somewhere among the feathers. Lance obliged and thought about the time he saw Keith picking his toenails with his blade. Gross.

He carefully felt along her spine and collar bones. Nothing. He thought of Hunk, Kinkade, and Pidge’s mom going on about yeast that one day. They had actually made a third documentary and apparently many people across the universe were way more into yeast than Lance was okay with. Yeah, yeasty thoughts were really helping him maintain focus.

He didn’t find anything on her back, so she asked him to try her sides.

That time Shiro and Coran tried to give the four of them ‘The Talk’, using some weird altean program and lots and lots of detailed charts, courtesy of Coran. That helped him want to never to date another person again for the rest of his life. The memory was helping now.

His hand felt something different just under her left under arm. He fiddled with it a moment and a latch let loose.

“Yay! You found it!” Pidge bounced up and down.

Lance ran his fingers along the path the latches made. He no longer needed his thoughts to distract him, freeing the clasps was distraction enough.

Soon the side of Pidge’s dress was completely open, Lance realizing after she grabbed the top and held it to her, that she was not wearing anything underneath.

A squeak came from his mouth.

Pidge stared at him for a moment. “Uh ...I'm going to change.”

She ran as fast as she could to the bedroom.

Think of Keith’s toenails. Think of Keith’s toenails.

Moments after Pidge disappeared into the room, the ship shook and then went dark.


End file.
